Jared Kushner 'unhappy' and 'miserable' as Russia scandal threatens White House role: report

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is reportedly miserable at the White House as reports indicate he spoke with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak about establishing a backchannel line of communication between Donald Trump and the Kremlin.

“He’s still trying to tell people it will improve but he seems like he was trying to convince himself,” a source told Politico.

“It’s clear that Jared Kushner will be under intense scrutiny at a time when his father-in-law has named him everything but Chief Cook and Bottle Washer,” Democratic strategist David Axelrod told Politico. “It’s bad for the prospects of calm at the White House.”

On Friday, it was reported Kushner failed to disclose multiple conversations between himself and Kislyak, though a lawyer for the businessman claimed he has “no recollection” of such communications.

A senior administration official told Politico concern has been growing at the White House for a while, but it’s not something openly discussed. “No one that I know has been asked to provide documents,” the official added.

“No one knows what to make of it because he’s there every day, making decisions, in the Oval,” they continued. “So everyone just tries to act normal.”

The news of Kushner’s angst comes as reports indicate the president is considering another staff shake-up—this time targeting his son-in-law.

Brian Fallon, former press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, said there’s “no way Jared Kushner should have a top-level security clearance,” given these reports.

“In light of what we now know he discussed with Kislyak, it is impossible to believe Kushner’s omission of that secret meeting from his clearance application form was an accident,” Fallon said. “His clearance should be stripped at least until the FBI gets to the bottom of this.”

“If Republicans will not join in demanding this of the White House, Democrats would be more than justified in grinding the Senate to a halt and opposing any new Trump nominees,” he added.